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"It was absolutely terrifying. There were so many thoughts going through my head.

"I was thinking 'what's wrong with me? What's wrong with my baby? Will it stay like this?' It was the last time I saw clearly."

They drove to an optician who said he could "see something behind your eye" but said it was likely due to her pregnancy.

A week later she had a midwife appointment where she was told "these things happen all the time when women are pregnant".

She recalled: "I thought it was odd. I had never heard of pregnant women going blind, but you just take their word for it."

Emma with Paige on her fourth birthday (Image: Emma Bullin/SWNS)

Her daughter, now 15, was in breech position and Emma was hospitalised with pre-eclampsia and bells palsy.

She still couldn't see, but said medics didn't want to do an MRI scan to investigate further, before the baby was born.

"That night she listened to me," said Emma. "I looked at my bump and said 'mummy's really poorly now and if you come now you will be absolutely fine, but mummy is quite poorly and needs you out so I can get some help'.

She had a crainiotomy to give her brain room to swell, and the tumour was removed, but she was kept in a coma for several days.

"My mum brought up my daughter for those first few months, as my husband had to go back to work," said Emma, who was able to go home around three months later, on Christmas Eve.

"She would bring her in and lay her on my chest and it was the time when my daughter would sleep most soundly. I had to get used to this new life - both as a mother and as a blind person."

Emma began a degree in English Literature a month after going home from hospital, and had radiotherapy to shrink a second inoperable tumour, before also completing a PGCE and is now studying for her masters.

Emma with her husband Peter Bullin after winning a Reach Out award in 2006

She said she has struggled to find full time work due to her disability, despite applying for hundreds of jobs over the years, and she dreams of become a teacher.

But she reckons being blind has made her a "better mum".

She said: "I suppose you could say because of it I became a bit obsessive. I was so worried that someone would think I was going to be a bad mum.

"I never had a brand new baby. When she was new my mum was looking after her and by the time I got home, she was already holding her head up on her own.

"She never once had cradle cap or nappy rash, because I was so obsessed with getting things right.

"She was 100 per cent my priority and always will be. I know that's the same for most mums.

"In a way being blind made me a better mum, and better in the day to day taking care of a new born, because I was so obsessed with not being accused of getting it wrong."

"I never wanted to tumour to define me and I knew I wanted to be a good mum."